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Tin Can – The landline, reinvented for kids

tincan.kids

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Re: Tin Can – The landline, reinvented for kids

#91

Post by xpe »

devilbunny wrote: post #81
mattbee wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can definitely test 999 for your own VoIP without getting into trouble. I did it a couple of times in the 2010s after moving offices. You just say you're testing, there's no emergency, thank you, and hang up.

I don't know how the UK treats this, but in the US you're supposed to call the non-emergency number and tell them you want to schedule a test call.

Makes sense. This also reduces the chances of a caller being “convinced” mid-call to tell the operator “oh, sorry, this is just a test”.

Re: Tin Can – The landline, reinvented for kids

#92

Post by xpe »

eterm wrote: post #46
davideg wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is a really good point, though E911 probably costs the provider something. I wonder if they could offer 911 support at actual cost ($1-2/month).

> probably costs the provider something Yes, So what? Eat the cost. Any life saved was worth it.

To individuals, a life seems priceless. But to anyone facing resource constraints, tradeoffs are inevitable. Welcome to the quagmire where moral philosophy meets bean counting.

Re: Tin Can – The landline, reinvented for kids

#93

Post by privatelypublic »

TimTheTinker wrote: post #65

There's a cheaper alternative, if you don't mind some manual setup: - buy an ethernet -> phone adapter (Grandstream, Cisco, and Poly sell these) and a cheap analog phone. - get an inexpensive VoIP number[0] and set up the phone adapter to log into the service you set up. - set up a Google Voice[1] number if you haven't already. When you want to make an outgoing call, use the Google Voice app to initiate a call to you…

Voip.ms is $0.50/mo per DID. After that billing is either an unlimited plan or per minute.

Re: Tin Can – The landline, reinvented for kids

#94

Post by danpalmer »

J_McQuade wrote: post #33
floren wrote: post #5

Highly, highly, highly recommend you enable 911 calls by default on all plans -- let parents disable it if they want. Cell phones do this, even without a SIM card. Don't gate safety for $9.99/mo. Edit: "The FCC requires that providers of interconnected VoIP telephone services using the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) meet Enhanced 911 (E911) obligations." https://www.fcc.gov/consumers/guides/voip-and-911-ser…

I kinda get why they think they don't want to enable this, but when I was a kid I once called 999 (in the UK) as a joke and let me tell you it was only once. My friends and I were there in the room watching films that we shouldn't and the uniformed and kitted-out Constables turned up and gave us an incredibly stern dressing-down about 30 minutes later. Luckily, I am in the UK where a bunch of 12 year olds who've just…

I did this too at the age of 4. Apparently fireman Sam doesn't take phone calls, but the operator was very kind and didn't berate me or my parents for it.

Re: Tin Can – The landline, reinvented for kids

#95

Post by ocdtrekkie »

gerdesj wrote: post #82
ocdtrekkie wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would be surprised if you got in trouble for occasionally calling emergency services to clearly communicate you were testing if it works. During normal operations they should have extra capacity and they presumably also would like you to be confident you can reach emergency services in an emergency. EDIT: I should specify a great way to be sure this is okay is call the non-emergency number for your local law enforc…

It is expressly forbidden to place test calls in the UK to 999. I could pretend to be a confused pensioner calling a taxi but that is not right and I can;t write that up. The generally accepted method is to subscribe to your TSP's emergency number provision, when doing VOIP. However, it never gets tested and what if a 9 was typed as an 8 in the dialpan? I used to put in ATAs which are SIP to copper voice bridges (for…

Or you can email them and schedule your test call: https://www.ofcom.org.uk/phones-and-broadband/telecoms-infra...

Re: Tin Can – The landline, reinvented for kids

#96

Post by CGamesPlay »

Can I get this for an elderly relative who has dementia? Scam calls were stressing her out (she doesn't have any ability to lose any assets, but the pressure they put on her stresses her out), so we took her phone. But we would love the ability to call her on a whim.

Re: Tin Can – The landline, reinvented for kids

#97

Post by paxys »

Neat product for the nostalgia factor but the pricing is atrocious.

A plastic receiver retails for $10 or less. The exact one they are selling is $18 (https://telephones.att.com/pd/200/210M-Black-Trimline-Corded...). They want $75.

VoIP is ~free (Facetime, Google Meet, WhatsApp, Messenger and a hundred others).

Saying "but it's for kids!" is a business strategy, sure, but charging $75 for the device + a $10/mo subscription for no reason is a bit too far.

Re: Tin Can – The landline, reinvented for kids

#98

Post by aspenmayer »

xpe wrote: post #89
TimTheTinker wrote: post #65

There's a cheaper alternative, if you don't mind some manual setup: - buy an ethernet -> phone adapter (Grandstream, Cisco, and Poly sell these) and a cheap analog phone. - get an inexpensive VoIP number[0] and set up the phone adapter to log into the service you set up. - set up a Google Voice[1] number if you haven't already. When you want to make an outgoing call, use the Google Voice app to initiate a call to you…

Maybe I’m going out on a limb here?… Even this thrifty and most excellent (party on Garth!) 3 to 17 step process might slightly reduce adoption by the target audience: kids.

I guess we’re gonna have to teach those kids to read the fine manual. (I agree with you entirely in this case. Show them easy mode then if they want a challenge they can do hard mode.)

Re: Tin Can – The landline, reinvented for kids

#99

Post by Terr_ »

CGamesPlay wrote: post #96

Can I get this for an elderly relative who has dementia? Scam calls were stressing her out (she doesn't have any ability to lose any assets, but the pressure they put on her stresses her out), so we took her phone. But we would love the ability to call her on a whim.

I've seen some similar products (controlled devices for vulnerable seniors) in the form of smart-watches, which have the advantage of being harder to misplace and more likely to be available in an emergency.

Now, whether the limitations of that form-factor/platform are worth it is a harder question.

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